The Washington Capitals jumped all over the Ottawa Senators scoring three times in the first 15 minutes and then played solid defensively the rest of the way to earn a 4-2 road victory.

By doing so, they clinched the Metropolitan Division and the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 52-15-5 (109 points). They are just five points away, with 10 games remaining, from locking up their second Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history (2009-10).

The Caps came out flying in this one and tallied just 2:32 into the contest as the fourth line forced a turnover along the right wing wall. Tom Wilson, who had his best game in several weeks, collected the Sens mistake and fed Mike Richards all alone in front of the net. #10 then made a nice move to his left and managed to push the puck past Craig Anderson (18 saves) to give Washington its first opening frame marker in 20 days.

Alex Ovechkin would then notch his league leading 43rd goal of the season on the power play at 12:22. Marcus Johansson made a super pass from below the goal line to a charging to the cage Gr8, and Ovi made no mistake about the finish. Nearly two and a half minutes later Nicklas Backstrom would complete a beautiful passing play with Jason Chimera and Jay Beagle to make it 3-0.

In the last five minutes of that opening period, the Caps would kill off a 63 second five on three power play to maintain their three goal lead. They are now 20-0-0 when leading after the first 20 minutes.

From there, Ottawa had the puck a lot, but they didn’t really get many quality chances. Washington wasn’t yielding odd man rushes and they kept the fast, but smallish Senators on the perimeter most of the night. Chris Wideman did score just past the game’s midpoint on a long range shot that Braden Holtby (28 saves) missed after Karl Alzner tried to snag it with his glove. That allowed the Sens to close to 3-1, but they only had 19 shots on goal through two periods, while Washington generated just 12. The Caps were guilty of passing up some good looks and also missing the net on several decent chances.

In the third period, Washington managed the game extremely well giving Ottawa no quality chances until late in the game when the Senators pulled Anderson. After referees Steve Kozari and Trevor Hanson missed an obvious closing the hand on the puck infraction on Zack Smith, Mika Zibanejad banked one in off of Holtby to make it a one goal affair with 1:33 to go.

But Richards, who was dynamite in this contest, Backstrom, and Beagle worked their tails off to keep Ottawa out of the offensive zone and then T.J. Oshie notched his 23rd goal of the season when he outraced Erik Karlsson to the biscuit and deposited it into the empty net to halt the Capitals three game road losing streak.

This was the 44th victory of the season for the Holtbeast and he’s just four wins shy of tying Martin Broduer’s NHL record.

Washington’s victory was important because they kept their season long streak alive of not losing in regulation in back to back situations. They are now 14-0-1 after a loss. That last defeat, to the Pens by a 6-2 margin, caused several Caps fans to lose their collective minds on Twitter on Sunday night. It was maddening to see the doom and gloom and first round loss predictions flowing for a team that has lost just 15 games all season in regulation. Yes, you heard that correctly, the Capitals have lost only 15 times in regulation all season. That’s amazing!

So I’m sure the local hospitals were all full on Sunday evening and Monday morning to deal with all of those from the Debbie Downer crew who broke their legs jumping off of the bandwagon following the meaningless defeat to Pittsburgh.

Hey, bad games happen, especially when the other club is fighting for their playoff lives and you are just going through the motions. The Capitals really haven’t had much to play for in a month or so because they have been just so darned good since the start of the season. Hockey is an intense emotional game and if you aren’t invested in the game, it’s hard to play at your peak. The Caps have not played at their peak consistently in awhile, but that doesn’t surprise me given the large standings lead and the length of the regular season.

I’ve been telling everyone since last summer that this is the best Caps team ever. I still 100% believe that, and oh by the way, they’ve been playing without their best defensemen, John Carlson, for most of the second half of the season. But words are just that, and this team will have to back me up in the post season with 16 W’s.

We are still three weeks away from the playoffs, so the Caps will continue to play pretty much meaningless affairs and the main goal will be to stay fresh and avoid injuries.

This stretch is like a second pre-season for the Capitals, but hopefully in the end, their regular season dominance will pay off in April and beyond.

Notes: Matt Niskanen led the Caps in ice time with 24:22. Alzner played 22:55 and Brooks Oprik logged 22:20…Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky only played 12:17 and 11:09, respectively, as Coach Trotz played the third line of Jojo, Chimera, and Beagle quite a bit. That line was very good in this contest…the Caps lost the faceoff battle, 31-30, but Beags went 8-3 and Backstrom was 10-7…Karlsson played a game high 31:54 for Ottawa, that is just too many minutes and it is indicative of the lack of depth on the Senators roster…next up for the Caps are the New Jersey Devils at the Rock on Friday night at 7:00.

Alexander Ovechkin scored in overtime off of a nice “sauce” pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov and Braden Holtby stopped 25 shots as the Capitals defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1.

The extra session is supposed to be “sudden death,” but that was not the case on this evening as the Canes challenged the game winner stating that the Capitals were offsides on the zone entry. After a minute or so review, replays seemed to indicate that Kuznetsov came across the line before he brought the puck in, but somehow the goal stood and Washington walked away as winners of their 50th game of the season through 69 tilts. In doing so they clinched a playoff spot and they are the first NHL team to do that in this campaign and they still have 13 more games remaining.

That playoff spot was a formality and at this point, sitting at 50-14-5 (105) points, their magic number to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy is 11 points as only the Los Angeles Kings, if they happened to go 13-0, could reach 115 points. So winning that piece of hardware is a formality, as well. As I’ve said all season, this is the best Capitals team ever and they are only the 6th team in NHL history to win at least 50 out of their first 69 games.

Other milestones on this night included the Holtbeast setting the franchise record for wins in a season with 42. Olie Kolzig had won 41 back in 1999-00. In addition, the Gr8’s winning tally was his 17th career overtime goal and he leads the NHL in overtime markers since 2005-06.

Overall, the Caps played a very solid game against a club that is fighting for a playoff spot. Carolina is weak on talent with Justin Faulk out of the lineup on defense and forward Eric Staal now donning a Blueshirt, but they play a structured game and are well coached by Bill Peters.

Washington came out flying and played their best first period in quite some time. They worked hard, got the puck deep on the Canes defense, and generated numerous scoring chances. Unfortunately they couldn’t finish, hitting the iron at least three times in frame one and on at least five occasions over the course of the entire game. Eddie Lack (29 saves), was good for Carolina in net, but he also had luck on his side, too.

Coach Barry Trotz pulled a Reg Dunlop and shuffled his lines around before this contest moving Jay Beagle up to right wing with Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin. He also put T.J. Oshie with Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky. Then in an attempt to get the third line going, Justin Williams was paired with Marcus Johansson and Jason Chimera while Mike Richards centered Daniel Winnik and Tom Wilson on the fourth unit.

The moves certainly generated a spark and when Williams put home a great feed from Chimera just 1:30 into the middle frame, the Capitals had scored first for the first time since the Toronto game on March 2nd. Scoring first has been nearly a guaranteed victory when the Caps do so and they are now 30-2-0 when that happens. Coach Trotz stated that the Chimera-Johansson-Williams line was the best for his club against Carolina and it would be hard to argue that one. Chimera and Jojo both performed as well as they have in several weeks.

However, the Canes weren’t going to let this one be easy and Coach Trotz noted that after his club scored, the shift immediately afterwards was not good and that gave Carolina hope that they could stick around. They did just that scoring at 10:50 of period two when Dmitry Orlov gifted the puck to Jordan Staal in the slot right after it looked like the Hurricanes had too many men on the ice.

Following a scoreless third period in which Carolina received a power play, the game went to the extra portion and Coach Trotz started with Beagle, Backstrom, and Matt Niskanen in the three on three format. That was a new overtime configuration and both Nicky and Beags kept several pucks alive in the offensive zone making it tough for the Canes to change players. Those three Caps were on for close to a minute before the three Russians, Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, and Orlov, came on to win the contest.

Carolina was clearly not happy that the goal stood, and they might have a beef, but the zebras didn’t have the best night missing some obvious infractions on Capitals scoring chances, not calling the too many men right before the Canes goal, and ignoring Lack touching the puck outside of the trapezoid in the third period. But that’s hockey and Washington certainly carried enough of the play to deserve the two points and get closer to locking up the Presidents’ Trophy and home ice for the playoffs.

Ovi’s goal was his first in six games and he now has 42 goals this season. He’ll need eight tallies in 13 contests to reach the 50 goal plateau, but I don’t think he really cares much about any individual achievements, at this point. It’s all about winning the Stanley Cup.

On Tuesday night, the Caps certainly had the proper effort from the outset to calm the “bad start” fears that were persisting around this club and its fan base. They didn’t bury the Canes in the goal department, but they certainly dominated the quality scoring chances and shot attempt totals (56-48).

They are also a resilient crew, as evidenced by their 13-0-1 record following a regulation loss this season.

Next up are the Nashville Predators at the Verizon Center on Friday night at 7 pm.

Notes: Holtby stated afterwards that he thought his best save was his first one, on Jeff Skinner, early in the contest. The Holtbeast was dialed in on Tuesday and I thought another great sequence he had was in the third period when he made a sliding save on a Canes power play chance and kept his body in control and in position for any rebound attempt…the Caps won the faceoff battle, 24-20, Kuznetsov was 8-5…Niskanen led the Caps in ice time with 25:27. No Washington player logged less than 11 minutes as Coach Trotz did a nice job of spreading around the ice time….Ovechkin led the Caps with 12 shot attempts and seven shots on goal….Brooks Orpik had seven hits to lead all players on both teams.

Braden Holtby allowed a goal to Ryan Getzlaf that he probably wanted back just one minute into the game on a delayed penalty call on Alex Ovechkin, but that was all the Ducks would get the rest of the night. Washington’s Andre Burakovsky tied the contest just 41 seconds into the third period and after overtime solved nothing, the Caps won in the shootout to halt Anaheim’s 11 game winning streak, 2-1.

Wow. Wow. Wow!

That was one incredible hockey game that was well worth staying up for!

It was physical; there were great end to end rushes, quality scoring chances, and some outstanding goaltending at both ends of the rink. John Gibson made 31 saves, robbing Justin Williams at least four times in this one, to carry the Ducks to the gimmick. Holtby held up his end of the bargain, as well, stopping 27 shots and he looked like early season Holtbeast. He made several huge stops, at key times, and he didn’t give up many rebounds. It was easily his best game since at least the all star break.

Williams, who was Comcast’s player of the game, did get an assist on the tying goal by Burakovsky. That second unit was all over the Ducks the entire evening and their only flaw was failing to pull the trigger when they had some great looks. Both Evgeny Kuznetsov and Burakovsky were guilty of overpassing on several occasions.

Each team played well and it is easy to see why the Ducks had been on a tear. They are extremely good and play a style that is conducive to lower scoring games. They have speed and size, just like Washington, so this was really an even matchup.

Mike Richards and his linemates, Daniel Winnik and Jay Beagle had another strong contest, especially in the third period when the Caps carried most of the play. #10 picked off a “D to D” pass with a minute to go and nearly won the game on a sweet backhander. Gibson, once again, kept his club in it.

The overtime saw the Caps carry the majority of the possession as they worked their three man cycle and overlap style very well. Matt Niskanen nearly won the game again for Washington with a sweet move to the net, but Gibson stopped his backhander in tight. The Capitals received a power play in OT when the Ducks were called for too many dudes, but just 16 seconds into that T.J. Oshie was called for closing his hand on the puck. Three on three continued without a decision, although the pace was frantic and heart pumping.

In the shootout, Holtby had two snazzy glove saves while Oshie made one of his sick head fake, then backhand roof job moves to give the Caps the edge early. Kuznetsov then had a chance to win the game, but despite beating Gibson, he shot wide. Corey Perry would deliver for Anaheim with a sweet backhand move of his own with the game on the line. Enter Nicklas Backstrom, who skated in calmly and coolly, faked going blocker side to open up the Ducks goaltender like a can of beans, and then #19 slid the puck on the ice between Gibson’s legs to silence the Honda Center. The Swedish assassin was quiet and deadly with his work and Washington earned another big victory against one of the NHL’s elite.

The exhilarating triumph improves the Caps to a 49-13-4 record, good for 102 points. That is just out of this world and even more impressive is that this was the Capitals fifth game in seven nights and they navigated that stretch at 4-1, including flying cross country on Sunday.

This group is clearly special and they once again shook off a rocky start to improve as the game went on. They were emotionally involved in the contest after the opening shift and they were winning many of the loose puck battles against a super hockey club.

There was just a ton to like about this victory, and perhaps, most importantly, was the way their goalie rallied after allowing an early goal to close the door with numerous ten bell saves.

Yes, the Holtbeast was back on the prowl on Monday night in a huge Capitals victory in Anaheim.

Notes: Burakovsky now has 23 points in his last 25 games…both teams went 0 for 4 on the power play in 6:16 of time. Washington’s PK was outstanding holding Anaheim to just 1 power play shot! The Caps man advantage efforts in regulation were superb and generated seven shots on goal, but Gibson was the difference…the Ducks won the faceoff battle, 29-22, although Kuznetsov went 8-6…Ovechkin had 0 shots on goal through 40 minutes but had four in the third period and one great chance in overtime that was denied by Gibson…Williams also had five shots on net…Niskanen played 27:05 to lead all skaters…Mike Weber had eight hits for the Caps. Brooks Orpik and Dmitry Orlov also had five each. The Ducks were credited with 43 hits to 33 for Washington…next up for the Caps are the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center at 10:30 on Wednesday night.

Coming off of a tough loss to the despised New York Rangers, the Washington Capitals were set to play their fourth game in five nights in Beantown against a red hot Bruins club. To win, they would need effort from everyone on the roster and superb goaltending.

This was one heck of a hockey game after the Capitals dominated the Rangers on Friday night, but lost due to some big mistakes. Washington had a good start on Saturday, however, it was one of those big mistakes that led to the opposition scoring first, once again. The Caps top line got caught out of position in their own zone and then an unfortunate bounce off of Nicklas Backstrom’s skate went Patrice Bergeron’s way and he deposited the biscuit into the cage just 7:11 into the game. Grubauer had no chance on that one.

Overall, though, it was a solid road period for the Caps and they were unlucky to trail, having outshot the Bruins, 9-7.

In the middle frame, things got very dicey, very quickly. The Bruins appeared to take a 2-0 lead on a rebound goal where the Capitals coverage broke down, but the Washington video coaches notified Coach Barry Trotz that they thought the play was offsides. Sure enough, Loui Eriksson’s skate was up in the air on zone entry and the goal was wiped out.

After surviving that, the next turning point occurred when Alex Ovechkin was given a questionable major for boarding by the overreacting Wes McCauley (the same referee who incorrectly whistled Tom Wilson for a match penalty against Ottawa earlier in the year). Brad Marchand earned a roughing call to negate the first two minutes of the major, but after Mike Richards, who was fabulous in this game, made a great steal and rush up the ice, Wilson was correctly called for interference. That gave the Bruins a five on three advantage for one minute and 49 seconds. Grubauer was spectacular in that sequence and he had some assists from the iron as the B’s hit a couple of posts.

Washington would ride the momentum from that big PK and Karl Alzner scored after carrying the puck deep in the offensive zone. #27 battled along the left wing boards and Ovechkin came in and snagged the biscuit. Ovi alertly spotted Backstrom in the far slot and then #19, with Alzner heading to the net, put one right on King Karl’s stick and he directed it home to tie things up.

The Caps gathered energy from that tying goal and kept pushing, but yet another mental mistake led to a too many dudes infraction. The Capitals penalty killing unit, which was a perfect five for five in 8:09 of shorthanded time, did the job.

As a result of all of the penalties, the Bruins had 20 shots on net in that middle frame, yet the game was still tied heading into the third period.

Normally the team playing the fourth game in five nights would be the one hanging on, but it was the other way around in this one as the Capitals carried the play with 10 shots on goal to just four for Boston. Each team had three minutes of power play time but neither could convert setting the stage for the OT.

In extra time, each club would generate three shots each, but then Marcus Johansson made a strong offensive zone entry and fed Andre Burakovsky just inside the blue line. Young Burra then made a nice cut across move and dropped the puck to Niskanen, who had just come off the bench on a change, and #2 just hammered it past Rask on overtime shot lucky number seven. It was the third time this week that a “Niscannon” blast led to the game winning goal (Oshie tipped his shot home in the win over Pittsburgh on Tuesday and Niskanen had the GWG against Toronto on Wednesday).

Wow, this was some great hockey game!

It was physical, Wilson fought Adam McQuaid in the first frame, and it was played at a high tempo, end to end pace. Coach Trotz’ crew worked hard all evening and afterwards he commended everyone’s “battle.” Battled was the right word because the Bruins love to play heavy hockey, as do the Caps. For some reason, Washington just seems to get the better of Boston ever since the 2012 playoff series victory. Normally it is Braden Holtby who terrorizes them, but on this night it was Grubauer who did the damage.

The victory improves the Capitals to the century mark in points at 48-13-4. They have an 18 point lead in the Metropolitan Division and are 15 points over the top clubs in the Western Conference. The NHL can just start engraving the Presidents’ Trophy now.

But that is not the hardware this club wants and their play over the weekend, despite losing to the Rags, is encouraging. They were emotionally involved in both hockey games after snoozing through many previous tilts. They still have some things to clean up, but overall the effort was back, and big credit for that goes to the newly cobbled fourth line of Richards, Jay Beagle, and Daniel Winnik. Those guys have pretty much tilted the ice for Washington since they’ve been put together this week. You can’t underestimate what a difference having a line like that makes now and will add in the post season since Coach Trotz can put any of his four lines out on the ice against any opposition line because this club is so deep. General Manager Brian MacLellan, who fixed the blue line in the summer of 2014, and the top six forwards in the summer of 2015, has now, along with Coach Trotz, fixed the bottom six forwards since the beginning of the season with the Richards signing and Winnik trade.

On Sunday, the Capitals will fly to California (I’m going back to Cali, Cali…) for a very difficult three game stretch against the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks, the top three clubs in the Pacific Division. It starts on Monday night at 10 against a Ducks squad that has won 11 games in a row to pull a Linda Rondstadter (Blue Bayou, h/t Gary McCord) on the Kings.

To beat these three left coast powerhouses the Capitals will need the type of effort they had against Boston while minimizing the big mistakes.

Get your rest and your caffeine ready for the late night week ahead.

Notes: Niskanen, who was +2, led the Caps in ice time with 26:48…Ovechkin, despite the bogus major penalty, seemed more like himself in this one with nine shot attempts and five shots on goal. He and Zdeno Chara had their usual battle and #33 was called for roughing late in the game for trying to take Ovi’s head off. The Gr8 will face another one of his “buddies” on Monday in Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks…the Caps lost the face off battle, 29-26. Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was fabulous despite scoring no goals on seven shots on net, was 8-4…Brooks Orpik logged 22:30 but was cut late in regulation on a clean hit by the Bruins. T.J. Oshie also got hit high early by Chara in this one and stayed in the game…given the “battle” of this contest, it’s safe to say that the Caps will be eating rocks for breakfast on Sunday morning before their all day flight to California.

“Well, um, icing happen when the puck come down, bang you know, before the other guys you know. Nobody there, you know. My arm go comme ça then the game stop then start up.” – Goaltender Dennis Lemieux of the Charlestown Chiefs.

On Sunday afternoon in the Windy City, the Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks played a thrilling hockey game with the club that has won three Stanley Cups in the last six years coming out on top, 3-2, despite a late Caps rally.

This was a fantastic display of the sport, by the players, with the Capitals dominating a breathtaking first period. Washington poured 17 shots on net in the opening frame as well as several others that missed the cage, including Evgeny Kuznetsov’s shot in tight that hit the post. Chicago only had six shots on goal, but thanks to a Justin Williams turnover and Patrick Kane being a “sneaky bugger” the game was tied after 20 minutes. The Caps goal came on a power play with Marcus Johansson baseballing the rebound home at the doorstep after a strong shot from Williams in the slot. That tally was the first time the Capitals scored first in the last eight games and it was easily their best first frame since the All Star Break. Unfortunately, the solid play did not translate to a road lead and that ended up costing Washington as the game progressed.

The Blackhawks took over period two, out shootoing the Caps, 14-4, aided by some curious penalty calls on the Caps and at least one each of missed icing and offsides infractions. Brooks Orpik was called for hooking on a clean hit shortly after an obvious offsides on the Hawks. The Caps killed that one off, but then a missed icing call on Chicago led to an incorrect tripping call on Taylor Chorney. That was two power plays for the bad guys on no real infractions. Jonathan Toews scored on that second man advantage situation to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead heading into the final period.

Washington would carry large portions of the final 20 minutes, outshooting the Hawks, 9-3, but when linesmen Matt MacPherson and Brandon Gawryletz missed an obvious icing call on Chicago, Nate Schmidt and the rest of the Capitals eased up awaiting the impending whistle. It did not come. As a result, Richard Panik seized the puck and hit a charging Dennis Rasmussen in the slot, who was all alone and beat Braden Holtby (20 saves) to make it 3-1. You are taught at a young age in all sports to play to the whistle, so shame on Washington for stopping and not finishing the play. That’s a good lesson to learn, but seriously, what is with the inconsistent officiating in this league? The linesmen should know what icing is, it is even simpler than Dennis Lemieux explained it in Slapshot! To steal from another great movie, Fletch, “Perhaps [the refs] need a refresher course!”

The Capitals players and bench were incensed and afterwards Coach Barry Trotz, Alex Ovechkin, Jay Beagle, and the Holtbeast were not happy with the bad or missed calls. In fact, Trotz told Caps beat reporter Mike Vogel that two of the missed icing calls directly or indirectly lead to Chicago tallies. It was no doubt a bad night for all four zebras, but the league will likely do nothing about it.

After receiving a late five on three man advantage the Caps pulled Holtby to make it a six on three. Washington promptly lost an offensive zone faceoff, but Nicklas Backstrom made a great play knocking down a Hawks clearing attempt and from there #19 got the puck to Kuznetsov, who banked it in from below the goal line on Corey Crawford (28 saves). The Capitals stormed the castle again after that, but T.J. Oshie couldn’t connect on a great chance in front. #77 was in the right positions most of the game, however, his hands weren’t there on Sunday.

So the loss drops the Caps to 45-12-4 (94 points). They still lead Chicago in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy by 11 points and they have three games in hand, so Washington still has the inside track for that piece of hardware. More importantly, getting home ice for the entire playoffs would be a key to winning the silver hardware they really desire. If they do happen to meet the Hawks in the Finals or the Rangers in the second round or anyone else in a game seven, that would be played at the Verizon Center.

Speaking of the Rangers, the Blueshirts were “gifted” Carolina forward Eric Staal for half price in salary in return for two second round picks and a prospect. This deal for the Rangers was outstanding and it was only plausible because Marc Staal plays for the Rags. The Canes, who were in the hunt for a playoff spot, should feel shame for aiding the crew from New York. Sure they get some marginal assets, but seriously, that was worse than the bad Iran nuclear deal.

But back to Caps-Hawks, both goalies made big stops in this one and you can’t fault the Holtbeast on any of the goals. Washington needs to hit the net more consistently, that was their downfall on Sunday, along with the guys in stripes, who missed a good game.

Notes: the Caps outshot the Hawks, 30-23 and outshot attempted them, 53-48…the Caps were two for five on the power play while Chicago went 1 for 4… the Caps were creamed on draws, 31-20. They had no answer for Toews, who went 18-4…the trade deadline is on Monday at 3 pm and if the Caps do anything, it might be to add a faceoff specialist, but, in my opinion, they don’t need to make any moves…John Carlson did not play in this contest. He underwent a minor procedure on his knee on Saturday and was placed on long term injured reserve, so he’ll miss at least the next 10 games. Coach Trotz stated on Sunday morning that they expect him back in three weeks…the Caps had 47 hits to just 27 for Chicago. In the first period the Caps really came out playing the body hard and that ended their bad first period streak…this was only the second time all season that the Capitals lost in regulation after scoring first.

WNST Event Note: Please come out to Buffalo Wild Wings on Monday evening in Belair to meet Coach Barry Trotz. Nestor Aparacio and I will be interviewing the great bench boss. In addition, there will be swabbing done by There Goes My Hero for the Bone Marrow Registry. This is a simple process and it is very helpful in the fight against leukemia.

On Thursday night at the Verizon Center, it just didn’t seem fair as the Caps just thoroughly dominated a Canucks team that came in to town feeling pretty good about itself. As it turned out, if not for some stellar goaltending by Ryan Miller (36 saves), the Washington 4-1 triumph could’ve been more lopsided because the Caps played that well.

It’s getting scary how good Washington is, and they keep getting better.

The Caps out shot Vancouver, 40-30, out shot attempted them, 73-58, and would’ve blanked them on the scoreboard if not for a mid third period five on three power play goal by Radim Vrbata.

It was the men versus the boys for most of the night and Evgeny Kuznetsov (two goals, one assist) was the primary star, once again. #92 scored the opening tally on a two on one with Dmitry Orlov after #9 made a great play at the Capitals defensive blue line to turn things the other way. Karl Alzner would make it 2-0 on a long bomb heading into the final twenty minutes following a sequence where the Canucks lost their focus in the corner.

In the third period, Kuznetsov helped increase the Caps lead to 3-0 with one of his absolutely sick, no-look, behind the back passes to Tom Wilson in the slot and Willy one timed it home for his 4th goal of the season. It was a goal of beauty and Andre Burakovsky (two assists, +3) deserved applause as well for his work down low on the boards to get the puck to Kuzya. Kuznetsov would then close out the scoring with an empty net goal with one second left to make it 4-1.

Washington is now 33-7-3 (69 points) and they’ve won five games in a row and 11 straight at the Verizon Center. So how could they possibly still be getting better?

Well, let me explain. Remember how this Caps team often found itself having to chip the puck out of their own end last season? That strategy ultimately doomed them in game seven against the Rangers.

This season, with the additions of T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams, plus the emergence of Kuznetsov, Marcus Johansson, Wilson, and Burakovsky to go along with superstars Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, the Capitals have a high talent level that can make the proper passes to get the puck going into the offensive zone as quickly and efficiently as possible. Add in a speedy Jason Chimera plus a very mobile defense that has benefited from the addition of Orlov and the rapid ascension of Nate Schmidt and you’ve got yourself one heck of a puck moving hockey team.

In the last few weeks we’ve seen that ability to go from defense to offense take off and I asked Williams about the keys to the Washington breakout and its strategy after the victory over Ottawa on Sunday night.

“First of all, we want to play a quick game. And if we want to stretch it out, we’ll stretch it out. I think that everybody wants the puck on the ice and that’s great because when you want the puck you are calling for the puck. That makes it easier for the guy who has the puck if he can’t see you, to make a play….that happens all throughout the ice, communication,” stated the three time Stanley Cup winner on the secrets of the Caps success.

What Williams says sounds so simple, but it is not. It takes five guys on the ice working together and communicating to make the magic happen. In game 43 of 82, the Capitals sure seem to be getting better and better at this and they seemingly had the puck on a string all evening against the Canucks.

They can beat you with skill.

They can beat you with speed.

They can beat you with power.

Sure I read a lot of Dr. Seuss in the day, but the Caps seem to possess so many key facets to being able to win and they just keep iterating on their game and improving. It is really a scary sight for the rest of the league and they are doing this without John Carlson, Brooks Orpik, Jay Beagle, and newly acquired two time Stanley Cup Champion Mike Richards.

On Thursday, all four lines were going. The Gr8 was held pointless but he, Oshie, and Backstrom were dominant. Ovechkin had 11 shot attempts (five on net), and many were quality chances. Again, Miller is the reason this wasn’t a 7-1 affair, like on Sunday against Ottawa.

It seems that everyone on this team is playing “the system” as Coach Barry Trotz likes to call it. They skate, they push the pace, and they punish you. The Caps had 20 hits to Vancouver’s eight and Washington had the puck most of the game!

It is heavy hockey with talent and skill at a very fluid pace.

That’s one scary combination and the Capitals still feel like they can keep improving.

Right now I’m not sure there is a better group of top nine forwards in the league and the mobile defense continues to make plays that allows the forward group to excel.

It’s enjoyable hockey and tons of fun to watch.

Notes: Ovechkin was honored before the game with a lengthy video tribute from many other prominent NHL 500 goal scorers, including a wonderful closing sequence from The Great One, Wayne Gretzky. Caps owner Ted Leonsis and Team President Dick Patrick presented Ovi with a golden stick listing all of his goals up to 500…the Caps dominated face offs going 34-20. Backstrom, Kuznetsov, and Johansson all had five more wins than losses from the dot…the Caps were 0 for 2 on the power play while the Canucks were 1 for 3…Braden Holtby made 29 saves and played well. He’s now 20-0-2 in his last 23 starts…Matt Niskanen led the Caps in ice time at 28:28. Alzner logged 24:59…the Capitals are in Buffalo on Saturday at 7 pm before coming home to take on the Rangers at 5 pm on Sunday.

It’s hard to see a hockey game end any more exciting than that one did.

Wow!

Alexander Ovechkin, after Braden Holtby made a big save on Rick Nash and Nate Schmidt followed it up with a game saving block of Derek Stepan’s empty net bid, took the puck in three on three overtime, went end-to-end down the left wing beating both Nash and Ryan McDonagh with blazing speed, and ripped the 499th goal of his career by King Henrik Lundqvist to give the Washington Capitals an amazing comeback 4-3 victory after they had surrendered a 2-0 third period lead.

Once again…Wow!

I’m practically out of breath after this amazing game.

Washington carried most of the play over New York for two periods and seemed to have things in control heading into the final frame. However the Caps looked a little lethargic and tired while the Rangers, off since Tuesday night, came storming back to seize the lead, 3-2, with three goals in less than 10 minutes of play. Washington made too many defensive zone mistakes during that stretch and with just over five minutes to go it looked like New York was headed to its fifth win in the last six games against the Capitals.

But this Caps team is just too proud, too determined, and too tight of a unit to allow their archrivals to stick it to them again in a dagger like fashion. The Capitals put on a furious assault on Lundqvist and nearly tied the game on an Andre Burakovsky shot that hit iron. During that stretch, with 3:50 to go, the Rangers did get a two on one break and Nash fed McDonagh for what looked like a layup, but he either shot it wide or the Holtbeast (23 saves) just got a piece of it as the biscuit slid wide.

Still, with less than 30 seconds left the Caps were on their last life, but Ovechkin did a great job to gather a puck in the left wing corner and instead of firing on net, he fed Matt Niskanen at the left point. #2 saw that there were several Blueshirts in his lane so he slid the disc over to Justin Williams. The super smart Williams saw all star Nicklas Backstrom in front of King Henrik and he fired a shot on net with #19 screening. Lundqvist made the first save, but he couldn’t corral what he couldn’t see, and then Nicky put the rebound home with just six seconds left!

The Caps bench went nuts and then overtime came. It was a wild three on three affair and the Rangers looked to win it off of an offensive zone faceoff, but Holtby made the huge stop on Nash in the slot and #88 made his magic stick block on game seven hero Stepan setting the stage for the Gr8.

Ovechkin, who definitely has a flair for the dramatic, made no mistake about this one and after scoring he slid on his knees and did a spin in front of the Washington bench as his teammates stood by ready to mug him in celebration. Schmidt and Holtby embraced, as well, and this close knit group clearly enjoyed getting a victory in amazing fashion when it looked like the curse of the Rangers might live on.

Have I said “Wow!” in this blog yet?

Wow!

That was some game and this team just keeps finding ways to get it done. Ovechkin opened the scoring on the power play with a layup after a Dan Girardi givewaway to move to 498 career goals. Williams pushed the lead to a pair in the middle frame on a breakaway after a big Gr8 hit on McDonagh allowed Schmidt to get the puck and send #14 in all alone on the King. Williams pin balled it in on a diving Lundqvist and it looked like from there the Caps would cruise to another win.

But New York, who has really struggled since the season’s quarter pole, didn’t quit either, so give them credit for racing back into the game and grabbing the lead.

The Rangers, however, have to feel decimated after this one. They couldn’t hold a late lead and Washington increased their Metropolitan lead over them to 16 points at the season’s halfway mark. New York is now tied with their cross town rival, the Islanders, for second place (Caps have a game in hand on the Isles).

With Marcus Johansson out due to suspension (he is eligible to return Thursday against Vancouver) and Jay Beagle, Brooks Orpik, and John Carlson all injured, the Caps knew they needed big games from their top two lines on Saturday afternoon and they received just that. The Gr8 had two goals and was +2, Backstrom had his tally and was +2 while Williams notched a goal and assist (+1).

On the back end, Schmidt was the star with two assists and the big shot block in 21:20 of ice time, but Niskanen had a big assist on the game tying tally in 28:34 while Karl Alzner blocked seven shots, including one with his head in period two. King Karl eats rocks for breakfast.

Wow!

So now on Sunday night at the Verizon Center, the Ovechkin 500th goal watch is in full effect. The Caps, who just finished a stretch of six road contests in seven games, went 5-1-1 to put a stranglehold on their division. They will now have to play for the third time in four nights against Ottawa, but at least it will be at home, which should be rocking with the Gr8, the man who saved hockey in this area, on the cusp of another major milestone.

Do. Not. Miss. It.

Notes: The Caps were 1 for 3 on the power play while New York went 0 for 3, but the Rangers tying goal came right after a Washington power play expired. The Capitals clearly missed Johansson’s ability to get clean zone entries with the man advantage which, at numerous times, made the PP look out of sync…several on the Caps bottom two lines had their struggles in this one in the last 20 minutes…Mike Richards skated on Friday but won’t play for awhile. He needs to get in hockey shape and a conditioning stint in Chocolatetown is not out of the question…Washington won the face off battle, 31-28, with Backstrom going a dominating, 15-7…see you for Ovie’s 500th on Sunday night, so be there or be square!

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Injuries are a part of sports, there is no denying that, but it’s how a team reacts to them that’s important.

So with the Washington Capitals trailing, 2-1, after 40 minutes on Wednesday night to the Buffalo Sabres at the Verizon Center, and with both Nicklas Backstrom (upper body) and Jay Beagle (upper body injury that will require surgery) having to leave the game, Coach Barry Trotz needed his big guns to step up.

They did just that as Evgeny Kuznetsov (two assists), reunited with Alex Ovechkin (two goals) and T.J. Oshie (one assist) to reform the TKO line, caught fire to lead the Capitals to a four goal final frame and a 5-2 victory, their ninth straight win. Kuznetsov, the game’s number one star, put on a clinic on the ice on how to shred a defense with dazzling moves and superior puck management. The young Russian made a super pass to the Gr8 just 1:24 into the 3rd period to tie the game up. Then, after the Caps lost the initial draw on a power play, Oshie outworked two Sabres in the left wing corner to get the puck to Kuzya. After trading passes with Matt Niskanen (1 assist in 25:40 of ice time), #92 fed Marcus Johansson in front for the game winner with 11:28 remaining.

Johansson (1 goal, 1 assist) was another of the players who really stepped up in the third period moving to the center position after having played wing for most of the last several seasons. Jojo, with Backstrom out for the third period, logged a season high 20:11. Andre Burakovsky took advantage of his opportunity, as well, and had a huge goal just 84 seconds following the Johansson tally. After a successful Brooks Laich offensive zone forecheck, Johansson was able to grab the puck and feed #65 in the slot for Andre’s third goal of the season and his first since October 23rd. Ovechkin would add an empty net goal, his 20th of the season, with 1:13 remaining to close this one out.

It was a very strong final 20 minutes and Coach Barry Trotz commented afterwards that the whole team really did step up. The Coach called it “Next Man Up” and the resilient Capitals out shot attempted the Sabres, 28-20, in that period to take full control of the hockey game.

“We got it from our top people, and I thought we got it from everybody. Our lines are all messed up, obviously, with a couple guys out, especially in the middle, and I thought Jojo [Marcus Johansson] stepped in and played center. I thought Ovi [Alex Ovechkin] and the big line really stepped up. I thought our defense core as a whole really got resilient. A guy like Zach Sill came in and did a really good job. I just thought everybody said, “hey, let’s find a way to win, it doesn’t bother us, just go.” It’s an opportunity for guys to step up and they did,” added the man whose team now leads the NHL with a 28-6-2 record (58 points).

Overall, this was a strong game for Washington, save for some sloppy sequences where they over passed the puck in the middle frame, which led to some Sabres quality scoring chances. Even with multiple turnovers and the occasional extra pass, the Capitals dominated with 43 shots on goal and 76 shot attempts to just 27 and 55, respectively, for Buffalo.

“It’s a fine line, you don’t want to discourage skill, guys are making those plays where sometimes you’re looking for a better shot and when it works a lot of times they’re the ones that go in because the goalie has to move from side to side. So I understand the reasoning behind it, but you’re kind of flirting with danger there when you’re making those cross ice passes and when there’s extra guys jumping in the rush you open yourself up to odd man rushes the other way, as well. You don’t want to discourage it, but I think just recognize how the game is going and be smart about it when you try those plays,” said Niskanen on the Caps skill and their tendency, at times, to pass up shots for another pass.

Coach Trotz, when talking about the over passing, stated that he’d like to see more shots, as well, even though he pointed out they did have 43 of them on Wednesday, but he doesn’t want to stifle the creativity and high end skill that many of his players possess. To him, the key is “game management” and knowing the situation you are in, much like what Niskanen stated.

With John Carlson out of the lineup for the second straight contest, and Trotz stated afterward that #74 will not travel to Carolina and Columbus for the next two games, the defense was forced to step up, too. Niskanen was outstanding leading the club in time on ice while Nate Schmidt (23:23), Dmitry Orlov (21:53), and Karl Alzner (20:24) all logged significant minutes. Taylor Chorney played 13:12 and Connor Carrick (-2), who only logged one third period shift before Ovechkin’s empty net goal, chipped in with 11:04.

Braden Holtby won his league leading 24th game of the season and is now a staggering 16-0-1 in his last 18 tilts with two shutouts, a 1.76 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage. #70 was at his best in the second period, and he also received some good fortune on two pucks that hit iron, making several big stops. In the final period he didn’t have to do too much as Washington dominated play and didn’t allow many quality scoring chances.

So now it is on to Carolina for a game in Raleigh at 6 pm on New Year’s Eve. The speedy, well skating Hurricanes will once again be rested against a Capitals team that will have played the night before. Last time this sequence occurred, Philipp Grubauer stole a win for Washington. Given that the Caps play in Columbus on Saturday, you can expect #31 to be in the cage again versus the Hurricanes. He also might have to steal another win given the list of Capitals now in the infirmary. Backstrom will travel to Carolina and hopefully can play, as well as Michael Latta. But you can expect a forward and defensemen call up from Hershey as a precaution for Thursday’s game.

It’s once again “Next Man Up,” especially if the Capitals want to extend their winning streak to 10 games.

Notes: Justin Williams had the Caps first goal into a vacant net after a furious forecheck in which he and Kuznetsov forced goalie Chad Johnson (38 saves) to turn the puck over…the Caps lost the faceoff battle, 33-30, which is no surprise with their 1st, 3rd, and 4th line centers out for the third period and more…Sill, recalled from Hershey on Wednesday, was only 3-9 from the dot in 10:08 of ice time…Ovechkin had 10 shots on goal and 15 shot attempts…notorious Cap killer Evander Kane had six shots on net and 10 shot attempts total for Buffalo…rookie Jack Eichel had 13 shot attempts (six on goal) and two assists to earn the game’s third star.

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The Buffalo Sabres thought they could play heavy hockey with the Washington Capitals on Monday night in the first meeting of the season between these two clubs.

Boy, were they wrong.

The Caps received an early second period goal from Alex Ovechkin and then Jay Beagle scored with just over seven minutes remaining in period two to notch the only two tallies in a physical, and at times, dirty effort on the part of Buffalo, in a Washington 2-0 victory.

This was a game in which there was the potential for a Capitals letdown. The Sabres are a mediocre team and the Caps are arguably the best squad in the NHL. Washington not only can beat you with skill, but they also have size and will punish you physically. If there is a style that doesn’t fit the Capitals, it is usually a high speed, end to end type of contest. On this night, for some reason Buffalo thought they could intimidate Washington. That wasn’t going to happen.

The Sabres, who seemed to get more and more frustrated with their inability to score on Braden Holtby (31 saves) as the game went on, routinely sent players into the crease area in an attempt to disrupt the Holtbeast (and possibly injure him). Yet somehow none of the sequences where the Sabres crashed into Holtby, to include Tyler Ennis late in period three and Johan Larson in period two, were whistled for goaltender interference penalties? Bylsma and company were basically playing cheap hockey to try and stay in the contest.

Speaking of cheap, Nicolas Deslauriers, who had only three goals and four assists heading into Monday’s tilt in 34 games, roughed Justin Williams in the face in the neutral zone in period two and then clipped #14 with his stick as Williams fell to the ice after the clear roughing infraction. Justin was bleeding heavily and had to go to the locker room for repairs. That was six penalty minutes that could have easily been called, but referee Dave Lewis, who was looking directly at the play, called nothing!

Michael Latta would rightly stick up for Williams and take on a bigger Deslaueries a few shifts later. The Sabre won the fight in a decision, but judging by his circus type reaction, you’d have thought he knocked out Muhammad Ali. What a clown and between the cheap hit on Williams and the fight, that rough stuff seemed to really galvanize the Capitals.

As a result, Washington picked up their intensity and threw the body around themselves, cleanly and effectively, rattling a young Buffalo squad.

The good news is despite the cheap stuff and the lack of Sabres penalties the Caps were easily able to defeat both the zebras and the dirty Sabres on this night. Buffalo rarely had quality scoring chances while the Caps had some grade A opportunities that they just couldn’t bury either shooting wide or due to pucks bouncing over their sticks. In addition, they tended to over pass themselves out of potential shot attempts on several occasions. That’s a recent trend that needs to be corrected.

But after the rough stuff really was initiated by Buffalo in period two, I knew the Caps would not back down nor be intimidated and intensity would not be an issue the rest of the way. I was right, this team sticks together, and the Capitals pretty much gave the Sabres nothing over the last 25+ minutes to win once again.

Buffalo’s best chance came with 1:01 left and the goalie pulled when Evander Kane appeared to have an easy back side goal with a seemingly open net only to see the Holtbeast snag the shot out of the air with his glove. It was vintage Holtby, who won his NHL leading 23rd game and completed his 2nd shutout of the season.

Washington’s winning streak now stands at eight games and they improved to 27-6-2 (56 points). The Capitals have a dozen point lead over the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division, with two games in hand. They were able to win on Monday in Buffalo without John Carlson, their #1 defensemen, who was unable to play due to a lower body injury.

Perhaps Bylsma felt that his club could play physical with Carlson and Brooks Oprik out and young Connor Carrick in the lineup? If so, he forgot that the Caps have their own forwards that can pound the opposition to include Ovechkin and Tom Wilson. Again, bad strategy by the Sabres.

Simply put, when it was all over and done, it was Barry Trotz’ men left standing vs. Disco Dan Bylsma’s boys when it came to who was the best at heavy hockey in this affair.

Now the two teams will get it on again on Wednesday at the Verizon Center. Coach Trotz will have last change and you can bet that Washington will be motivated to defeat the Sabres once again given the chippy nature at which Buffalo played on Monday.

Notes: Wilson had an assist on Beagle’s goal, his third in two games. #43 retrieved a loose puck in the offensive zone and fired it at the cage. It struck a Sabre defender en route and ricocheted off of the back boards right to #83, who deposited it into the empty cage behind Linus Ullmark (24 saves)…the Caps first goal by Ovechkin came after a furious forecheck from the Gr8 and his linemates, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie. Both #19 and #77 earned an assist on the goal…Lewis and the other official, Chris Rooney (aka, Rooney Tunes), were clearly not watching the same contest I was viewing and at the end of the night, the power plays were three to one for the Sabres; that’s pathetic…officially, shot attempts were 56-50 for Buffalo, but the Caps had 9 giveaways and Buffalo had 9 takeaways…Latta didn’t return after his fight due to injury (upper body, but not the head, per @VogsCaps)… Carrick played less than 10 minutes while Matt Niskanen logged a game high 27:25. Karl Alzner played 26:23, Nate Schmidt 23:07, and Dmitry Orlov had 19:45. Taylor Chorney’s ice time was just 12:14.

Proud Mary is probably a good song to be playing these days if you are a Washington Capitals fan, especially after the Caps won again on Saturday night, defeating the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1, for their seventh straight victory.

Fresh off of a four day break, three of which were mandated for the NHL Christmas shutdown, the Caps came out and played a solid game at home against a team that is very quick and adept at causing defensive zone turnovers.

Washington would have its issues, at times, with the Habs speedy forwards, but on the whole, they dominated this game in the scoring chances department, and if not for some overpassing and good goaltending from Mike Condon (30 saves), the Caps win this tilt by a larger margin. Evgeny Kuznetsov, Jay Beagle (GWG), and Jason Chimera tallied for the home squad, who are now 17-0-0 when scoring three or more goals this season.

On the other end of the ice, yes there were turnovers, but not a whole lot of quality shots for the Canadiens. That allowed Braden Holtby (29 saves) to get his league leading 22nd victory and lower his goals against average while raising his save percentage. It was another solid game for the Holtbeast, but on this night, he didn’t have to be the star because the Caps played pretty well.

The Beagle, Chimera, and Tom Wilson line had another superb effort and Willy picked up two helpers, and both were of the primary variety. When your third line scores two goals, there is a darned good chance you are winning the contest and Washington is still undefeated in regulation when #83 tallies. Wilson continues to improve and was super on the penalty kill, Montreal went 0 for 2, and he also earned a decision over Jared Tinordi in the first period. It was a properly timed fight by Wilson given that the Canadiens had three or four consecutive good shifts and Tinordi also cheaply cross checked him. After that bout the Caps seized the momentum right back in the hockey game.

Beagle’s game winner was a thing of beauty as the three forwards all did the proper things on the goal sequence. Chimera charged the net after getting the puck out to Wilson, and big #43 made a sweet pass back to Beagle, who used the Habs player as a screen to laser one over Condon’s shoulder. Plain and simple, it was a sweet goal.

Montreal would tally back 24 seconds later in the middle frame on a bad giveaway and poor coverage sequence by Washington’s second line, which was arguably the Caps worst shift of the game.

But with the Capitals nursing a 2-1 lead in the final frame, Nate Schmidt made a good pass to Willy in the neutral zone and he properly banked it off of the boards to a streaking Chimera. From there #25 turned on the jets to fly in and beat Condon top shelf, glove side. Caps play by play announcer, Joe Beninati, could not have called that one any better with the “Speed Kills” line. That goal came with 8:45 left and the Capitals salted this game away from there. The only scary moment came in the last five minutes when Matt Niskanen fired a point blank shot off of the right wrist of Alex Ovechkin. The Gr8 was in pain, but he did come back to play another shift after that. The captain, who clearly eats rocks for breakfast, also had a big shot block in the dying seconds of period two. That type of lay out and sacrifice your body for your squad sequence received lots of immediate praise from his teammates.

Overall, this was another nice win and the Caps have won eight straight in the friendly confines of the Verizon Center. Beagle noted that the crowd was loud and they helped Washington. There’s no doubt about that and the team is now 26-6-2 (54 points) to remain atop the Eastern Conference standings.

This team is really good and continues to find different ways to win games. The Caps continue to be on a roll, going 16-2-2 over their last 20 games, so I say cue the CCR.

Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river.

Notes: Schmidt had two assists in 20:15 of ice time…Niskanen led the Caps in ice time with 26:17…shots on goal were 33-30 for the Washington, but shot attempts were 61-52 for Montreal. The Caps passed up a lot of shot opportunities and that resulted in offensive zone turnovers…the Habs won the faceoff battle, 33-25, but Nicklas Backstrom went 11-8…the Caps now play a home and home series with the Buffalo Sabres on Monday and Wednesday. On Monday, they are at the First Niagara Center. Sabres rookie forward and second overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft, Jack Eichel, had two goals and two assists in a 6-3 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. Ryan O’Reilly had three points and notorious Caps killer, Evander Kane, had a goal. This will be a tough two games with a young and improving Buffalo team…the Caps wore their third jerseys for the second time (2-0) and to quote the great Billy Crystal, “They looked Maaaaahvelous!”

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